High School Transition:
Can a PASS & Your Ticket-to-Work
Help You Pay For College?
High School graduation, one of the most exciting and most discouraging times in life! Most exciting, because after twelve years you are finally finished with school and ready to go out into the world and pursue your dreams. And one of the most discouraging times, because we are in the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. For every job out there, statistically, there are 4 people standing in line to get it.
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But if you have a disability, or special needs, there may as well be twenty people in front of you. That’s because for persons with disabilities almost 79 percent are unemployed, according to the federal Department of Labor.
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More Education
One way to improve the odds of landing a job is getting additional education or vocational training after High School. How can a person who receives SSI or SSDI, and can barely make ends meet, afford to pay for these education options?
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays a monthly income to students with disabilities who face financial hardships. Eligible students may also qualify for a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) in which a student is able to set aside income and resources that are being used toward a specific vocational goal (such as college tuition) and still receive SSI payments.
The PASS must specify when it will begin and end. If the PASS is to pay for college or another training program, the objective is ordinarily achieved when the degree or certificate is received. The ideal time to write a PASS for college is in your freshman or sophomore year in high school, not your senior year. This way you don’t waste three or four years that savings for college could have been accumulating. By graduation day you may be well along toward paying for your degree.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays a monthly income to students with disabilities who face financial hardships. Eligible students may also qualify for a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) in which a student is able to set aside income and resources that are being used toward a specific vocational goal (such as college tuition) and still receive SSI payments.
The PASS must specify when it will begin and end. If the PASS is to pay for college or another training program, the objective is ordinarily achieved when the degree or certificate is received. The ideal time to write a PASS for college is in your freshman or sophomore year in high school, not your senior year. This way you don’t waste three or four years that savings for college could have been accumulating. By graduation day you may be well along toward paying for your degree.
Funds set aside in a PASS plan are not counted in determining the amount of SSI benefits you are entitled to each month (the funds are not counted against the SSI income limit or the asset limit). As a result, you can set aside substantial amounts of income and still receive the full SSI benefit amount.
Under SSI rules, a person can have no more than $2,000 in non-exempt resources.Resources above $2,000 can be put into the PASS to ensure eligibility for SSI. So a person who is awarded $25,000 in a personal injury
settlement, for example, could place this money into an approved PASS to save toward the expense of college studies, making this resource exempt for SSI purposes.
Under SSI rules, a person can have no more than $2,000 in non-exempt resources.Resources above $2,000 can be put into the PASS to ensure eligibility for SSI. So a person who is awarded $25,000 in a personal injury
settlement, for example, could place this money into an approved PASS to save toward the expense of college studies, making this resource exempt for SSI purposes.
How does PASS work if you receive SSDI and/or SSI?
If your income from SSDI is $700 a month, and you want to use that money to go back to school, PASS allows you to "set aside" the benefit for tuition, fees, etc. That's $8,400 per year. Once Social Security agrees to the "set aside," they will then replace your income with SSI up to $710 per month, as long as you are eligible for SSI (no more than $2,000 in assets, and the ability to live on SSI income).
For people on SSDI in the right income range, PASS is a gold mine. You trade your benefit for SSI, and finance your education with your SSDI income. You can also "slide" some of your normal expense (for example, transportation, meals eaten away from home and incidentals) into your PASS plan. Although PASS can work at even very high levels of SSDI (for instance $1,200 a month), at some point trading your monthly benefit and living on SSI income becomes difficult if not impossible.
The lengthy, but fairly straightforward PASS application amounts to a simplified business plan. Application forms are available from Social Security or a SSA Ticket-to-Work Employment Network (EN) member. In the application, you must outline your goals, steps and expenses along the way.
PASS plans must be submitted through local offices, but very few local Social Security personnel understand PASS. Instead, completed PASS plans are forwarded to a special unit or “cadre”. PASS proposals are reviewed by a “cadre” of PASS specialists, specially-trained SSA personnel whose primary job it is to review PASS proposals. There are now PASS specialists assigned to every region in the country.
For people on SSDI in the right income range, PASS is a gold mine. You trade your benefit for SSI, and finance your education with your SSDI income. You can also "slide" some of your normal expense (for example, transportation, meals eaten away from home and incidentals) into your PASS plan. Although PASS can work at even very high levels of SSDI (for instance $1,200 a month), at some point trading your monthly benefit and living on SSI income becomes difficult if not impossible.
The lengthy, but fairly straightforward PASS application amounts to a simplified business plan. Application forms are available from Social Security or a SSA Ticket-to-Work Employment Network (EN) member. In the application, you must outline your goals, steps and expenses along the way.
PASS plans must be submitted through local offices, but very few local Social Security personnel understand PASS. Instead, completed PASS plans are forwarded to a special unit or “cadre”. PASS proposals are reviewed by a “cadre” of PASS specialists, specially-trained SSA personnel whose primary job it is to review PASS proposals. There are now PASS specialists assigned to every region in the country.
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I Need Help Completing My PASS plan!
This is where your Ticket-to-Work may come in handy. All SSDI and SSI beneficiaries in cash status between the ages of 18 and 64 are eligible for a ticket. The Ticket to Work Program can help arrange for tuition costs for college, and even transportation. Also, the Ticket to Work Program can provide much of the assistive technology and equipment needed to pursue your college degree.
Employment Networks (EN) are SSA-approved organizations that provide job training and other employment services and supports to Ticket holders who want to work. ENs may be single organizations, agencies or partnerships of organizations or agencies collaborating to combine resources to serve Ticket holders.
An individual's Ticket serves as proof of SSA's agreement to pay an EN for needed services, and payments are structured to encourage ENs to provide the best possible assistance. This assistance may, but not always, include assistance with writing a PASS.
The billboard at the top of this post is part of the College Foundation of West Virginia’s outreach to help you find the needed cash to go to college. You will find information on many sources of financial aid at their website. But FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the key that opens the door to financial aid, such as Pell Grants. Tuition waivers are another important piece of the college funding puzzle.
Job Squad, Inc. is a Ticket-to-Work EN member with qualified benefits counselors who can help you write your PASS plan. Below are a couple links to examples of folks in West Virginia who braided, or combined, funding to pay for most if not all of their expenses for obtaining a four year bachelors degree. Ron is taking his college courses online from a nationally ranked university.
http://jobsquadinc.blogspot.com/2010/04/looking-for-new-job-been-thinking-about.html
http://jobsquadinc.blogspot.com/2012/08/jaimes-pass-approved.html
Yes, with your Ticket-to-Work you can get the help you need to use a PASS that, combined with other financial resources, can give you the cash to fulfill your college dream.
Employment Networks (EN) are SSA-approved organizations that provide job training and other employment services and supports to Ticket holders who want to work. ENs may be single organizations, agencies or partnerships of organizations or agencies collaborating to combine resources to serve Ticket holders.
An individual's Ticket serves as proof of SSA's agreement to pay an EN for needed services, and payments are structured to encourage ENs to provide the best possible assistance. This assistance may, but not always, include assistance with writing a PASS.
The billboard at the top of this post is part of the College Foundation of West Virginia’s outreach to help you find the needed cash to go to college. You will find information on many sources of financial aid at their website. But FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the key that opens the door to financial aid, such as Pell Grants. Tuition waivers are another important piece of the college funding puzzle.
Job Squad, Inc. is a Ticket-to-Work EN member with qualified benefits counselors who can help you write your PASS plan. Below are a couple links to examples of folks in West Virginia who braided, or combined, funding to pay for most if not all of their expenses for obtaining a four year bachelors degree. Ron is taking his college courses online from a nationally ranked university.
http://jobsquadinc.blogspot.com/2010/04/looking-for-new-job-been-thinking-about.html
http://jobsquadinc.blogspot.com/2012/08/jaimes-pass-approved.html
Yes, with your Ticket-to-Work you can get the help you need to use a PASS that, combined with other financial resources, can give you the cash to fulfill your college dream.
Excellent post! I have callers who will find this very useful.
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